1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a limited use disposable toothbrush having a reservoir integral therewith, the reservoir holding toothpaste therein.
2. Background of the Prior Art
Most often, people brush their teeth at home or at a home away from home such as a hotel room or a cruise ship cabin. However, there are many times that it is desirable to brush teeth when a person is not at home. Just prior to a business meeting, during a day long hike through the woods, and on a cross country airplane flight, are but a few examples when it may be desirable to brush ones teeth. However, in many such situations it is not very feasible or convenient to carry a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste, even a travel sized tube, in order to be able to brush the teeth.
In order to address the need to be able to brush teeth at times and at locations where the provision of a tube of toothpaste is not very convenient, devices have been proposed wherein a toothbrush has a reservoir associated therewith, which reservoir holds an amount of toothpaste therein. When brushing of the teeth is desired, the toothpaste is retrieved from the reservoir, applied to the bristles of the toothbrush, and the user's teeth are brushed accordingly. Such devices fall into one of two broad categories.
The first type of toothbrush with reservoir is a refillable type wherein the reservoir is replenished upon becoming empty. Such a toothbrush is designed to be used until the bristles wear out through normal brushing use at which point the entire brush is discarded in normal fashion. The problem associated with this type of toothbrush with reservoir is that, by nature, the toothbrush is designed to travel with the user. In such a setting the bristles become dirty over time simply from being exposed in the environment within which a user uses such a brush and the brush becomes undesirable for use. Additionally, a toothbrush with reservoir must be relatively compact in order to be effective. As toothpaste has a very low viscosity, refilling the necessarily relatively small reservoir can prove to be quite a challenge. In addition, over time, the toothpaste within the brush becomes hardened, making it necessary to clean the inner workings of the brush, which may prove to be a major challenge, or some of the hardened toothpaste makes its way onto the bristles, making brushing less than desirable. In some situations, the toothbrush can become so clogged that it must be prematurely discarded.
The other category of a toothbrush with reservoir is a disposable toothbrush. In such a configuration, the reservoir is loaded with an amount of toothpaste that is sufficient for one or at most a small handful of brushings, and upon the exhaustion of the toothpaste supply, the toothbrush is discarded and a new brush is obtained. Such a toothbrush overcomes the difficulties of refilling the reservoir as well as keeping the workings of the toothbrush clean. However, one problem that affects this category of toothbrush with reservoir, is that many prior art devices are unusually complex in design and construction, making such devices relatively expensive to produce. Although this is a problem that also affects many refillable toothbrushes, the fact that this category of toothbrush is disposable after a very limited working life span, tends to shy many consumers away from purchasing such devices due to the high cost of such a device. Although some devices have been proposed that have little or no moving parts so as to be simple in design and construction, such prior art devices make loading of the toothpaste onto the bristles of the toothbrush difficult. Further, such devices, while oftentimes are loaded with sufficient toothpaste for 3-5 typical uses, may fail after just one or two uses due to clogging of the toothpaste feeder system of the brush.
Therefore, there exists a need in the art for a disposable toothbrush that addresses the above-mentioned problems in the art. Specifically, such a toothbrush must be relatively simple in design and construction so that the toothbrush is relatively inexpensive, in order that the cost does not prove to be a burden to the target market. Additionally, such a toothbrush must allow the transfer of the toothpaste from the reservoir to the bristles to be a relatively simple and straightforward task. If the toothbrush is designed for more than a single use, the device must assure that it does not become easily inoperational prior to the exhaustion of the toothpaste supply within the reservoir.